Ron Fairly the ultimate contact hitter?
LandrysFedora
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in Sports Talk
I'm not a big stats guy but I was looking at Mr Fairly's career stats and it seemed very impressive to me in his 20 plus year career with over 8400 plate appearances that he averaged 70 walks and only 58 k's per 162 game average! He played just before my baseball watching days began but this tells me he really was super proficient at putting balls in play. I'm not saying put him in the hall or anything like that, but statistically this just seems so so impressive to me. Especially that 58 k per 162 game average. Did anyone see him play during his career? I would like to hear thoughts on his stats.
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All in all, I'd say he was Fairly good. ;-)
Seriously, I remember only the last half of his career. According to the record books, two things really stand out:
Welcome to team Fairly!
Fairly was not, as you said, a Hall of Famer, but he was very, very good and had he not played his best years in Dodger Stadium where offense went to die, he would at least be better known than he is. Players like Fairly are universally underrated because they are not great at any single aspect of the game so often go unnoticed. But while Fairly may not have been great at any one thing, he was good or very good at just about everything. Good, not great, power; good, not great, at getting on base; good, not great, fielder. Even if you dig way down into the stats, you see that Fairly was a very good bunter, he ground into very few DPs, he hit better in high leverage situations, and he hit better with runners on base. The one time in his career when he was truly great was the 1965 World Series; he was the most valuable player, although the official MVP was given to Koufax.
Ron Fairly.....that brings back memories. 1965....the Dodgers were the World Champs!....the POWER HITTER?......Ron Fairly. Nine home runs!...NINE!!!!!......Hey, you got Koufax and Drysdale on the mound, Maury Wills running nuts on the basepaths....Walter Alston running the show??? NINE HOMERS IS ALL YOU NEED......Ron was CLUTCH! The fan favorite! Wes Parker, the Dodger first baseman that year was the best ever! I loved that team! Listening to Vince Scully and Jerry Doggett call the games with my transistor radio under my pillow! God......time goes by so fast! ......Hey,.....love your family.....love your friends...... appreciate life.......that's all we have.....God Bless You All. And.....GO RAMS!!!!
Do yourself a favor.....go to YouTube and watch the 7th. game of the 1965 World Series. THE WHOLE GAME. You will see the best pitcher of all time. If you're a young guy......you won't recognize the game....because it's baseball ...real baseball! Contact hitting.... base running.... sacrifice hits, HITTING TO THE OPPOSITE FIELD to advance a runner, actual field managing.....on and on......but.....best of all....you WILL see the best pitcher of all time.....Dandy Sandy! Nobody comes close......NOBODY!
Hydrant- What are your thoughts on Willie Davis of the Dodgers? He played a lot of seasons with them.
For some reason in the early seventies he was one of my favorite players. My brothers and I used to write
to baseball players and ask for a picture with an autograph. Willie Davis sent me a picture and auto.
I'm sure I still have it around somewhere.
Do yourself a favor and look up Joe Sewell. Granted baseball was a different game in the '20s and early '30s, but 93 players had more strikeouts last year than Sewell did over his career.